Kia ora Jenny

We acknowledge receipt of your Official Information Act request.

If we have any questions or need to seek clarification on any points we will be in touch soon. Otherwise, we will seek to respond to your request as soon as practicable and no later than 20 working days after the date your request was received (by 5 May 2022). If we are unable to respond to your request by then, we will notify you of an extension of this timeframe.

Ngā mihi
Kelsey

Kelsey Kennard
Official Information and Compliance Coordinator

Office of the Registrar | Te Tari o Te Pouroki me te Kaituhi ki te Kaunihera
University of Otago | Te Whare Wānanga o Otāgo
New Zealand | Aotearoa
Email | Īmera [University of Otago request email]

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Kia ora Jenny

 

I refer to your information request made under the Official Information
Act 1982 dated 4 April 2022. You have requested information in relation to
entry to the Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) and Bachelor of Medicine and
Bachelor of Surgery (MB ChB) programmes via the Health Sciences First Year
(HSFY) category for International students.

 

Please see our responses to each of your questions below.

 

Entry requirements (academic grades) for BDS and MB ChB from HSFY for
international students

 

For entry to the BDS programme, International Students must meet the same
academic thresholds as all other HSFY students, as per the [1]programme
regulations. Those students who meet the thresholds are offered an
interview. They must attend the interview and meet the interview threshold
in order to be considered for entry to the programme.

 

For entry to the MB ChB programme, International Students must meet the
same academic thresholds as all other HSFY students, as per the
[2]programme regulations.

 

Lowest academic grades of international students who got into BDS and MB
ChB in the last 5 years

 

Please see the below table which shows the minimum academic scores to
receive offers to the BDS and MB ChB programmes via the HSFY category for
International Students over the past five years:

 

+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|  | Minimum academic score to receive an offer (HSFY, International |
| | Students) |
|----+-------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Year| BDS | MB ChB |
|----+-----------------------------------+-------------------------------|
|2018| 70.00 | 72.08 |
|----+-----------------------------------+-------------------------------|
|2019| 77.29 | 67.58 |
|----+-----------------------------------+-------------------------------|
|2020| 67.43 | 74.14 |
|----+-----------------------------------+-------------------------------|
|2021| 69.71 | 78.29 |
|----+-----------------------------------+-------------------------------|
|2022| 67.14 | 72.71 |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------+

 

Number of international students who got into BDS and MB ChB in the last 5
years

 

Please see the below table which shows the number of International
Students who received and accepted offers to the BDS and MB ChB programmes
via the HSFY category for International Students over the past five years:

 

+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|  | Number of students to receive offers |Number of students to accept|
| | (HSFY, International Students) |offers (HSFY, International |
| | | Students) |
|----+--------------------------------------+----------------------------|
|Year| BDS | MB ChB | BDS | MB ChB |
|----+-------------+------------------------+------------+---------------|
|2018| 16 | 12 | 12 | 9 |
|----+-------------+------------------------+------------+---------------|
|2019| 18 | 14 | 14 | 8 |
|----+-------------+------------------------+------------+---------------|
|2020| 30 | 15 | 25 | 10 |
|----+-------------+------------------------+------------+---------------|
|2021| 15 | 13 | 13 | 8 |
|----+-------------+------------------------+------------+---------------|
|2022| 10 | 14 | 5 | 11 |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------+

 

Number of international students who did HSFY in the last 5 years
including 2022

 

Please see the below table which shows the number of International
Students enrolled in the HSFY programme over the past five years, as well
as the total number of students enrolled in the HSFY programme over the
past five years.

 

Please note that the data counts students enrolled in HSFY as at 30 April
each year. Please also note that some students move out of the HSFY
programme between semesters one and two.

 

+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| |Number of International Students|Total number of students enrolled |
|Year| enrolled in HSFY | in HSFY (including International |
| | | Students) |
|----+--------------------------------+----------------------------------|
|2018| 92 | 1,439 |
|----+--------------------------------+----------------------------------|
|2019| 125 | 1,480 |
|----+--------------------------------+----------------------------------|
|2020| 75 | 1,326 |
|----+--------------------------------+----------------------------------|
|2021| 66 | 1,390 |
|----+--------------------------------+----------------------------------|
|2022| 95 | 1,354 |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------+

 

 

Please also see our responses to each of your additional questions below.

 

Is there any change in the threshold for entry requirements (such as
academic grades) for BDS and MB ChB due to international students not
having to take UCAT?

 

For both the BDS and MB ChB programmes, there are no changes in academic
thresholds as a result of International Students not being required to sit
the UCAT in 2022.

 

Is there a set number of international students and set academic grade
threshold for BDS and MB ChB?

 

For entry to the 2022 BDS programme, up to 68 places were available for
International Students. As noted above, International Students must meet
the same academic thresholds as all other HSFY students in order to be
considered for entry to the BDS programme.

 

For entry to the 2022 MB ChB programme, up to 20 places were available for
International Students. As noted above, International Students must meet
the same academic thresholds as all other HSFY students in order to be
considered for entry to the MB ChB programme.

 

Were there any changes made due to Covid-19? (e.g. decreasing/increasing
the acceptance rate of international students for BDS and MB ChB?

 

For both the BDS and MB ChB programmes, there were no changes made
specifically to entry requirements or acceptance rates for International
Students as a result of Covid-19.

 

 

We trust you will find this information helpful.

 

Ngā mihi

Kelsey

 

 

Kelsey Kennard

Official Information and Compliance Coordinator

 

Office of the Registrar | Te Tari o Te Pouroki me te Kaituhi ki te
Kaunihera

University of Otago | Te Whare Wānanga o Otāgo

New Zealand | Aotearoa

Email | Īmera [3][University of Otago request email]

 

 

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Kia ora Jenny

I refer to your email sent 18 June 2022 requesting information and clarification regarding entry to the Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) and Medicine (MB ChB) via the HSFY category for International students. We will be treating this request as a new information request under the Official Information Act 1982.

If we have any questions or need to seek clarification we will be in touch soon. Otherwise, we will seek to respond to your request as soon as practicable and no later than 20 working days after the date your request was received (by 18 July 2022). If we are unable to respond to your request by then, we will notify you of an extension of this timeframe.

Ngā mihi
Kelsey

Kelsey Kennard
Official Information and Compliance Coordinator

Office of the Registrar | Te Tari o Te Pouroki me te Kaituhi ki te Kaunihera
University of Otago | Te Whare Wānanga o Otāgo
New Zealand | Aotearoa
Email | Īmera [University of Otago request email]

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Kia ora Jenny

Thank you for your email. I confirm receipt of your second follow up question in relation to your Official Information Act request dated 4 April 2022.

I will follow this up with our analysts, and hope to respond to your questions as soon as practicable.

Ngā mihi
Kelsey

Kelsey Kennard
Official Information and Compliance Coordinator

Office of the Registrar | Te Tari o Te Pouroki me te Kaituhi ki te Kaunihera
University of Otago | Te Whare Wānanga o Otāgo
New Zealand | Aotearoa
Email | Īmera [University of Otago request email]

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Kia ora Jenny

I refer to your follow up question sent on 18 June 2022 in relation to your Official Information Act request that we responded to on 5 May 2022.

The Act requires that we advise you of our decision on your request no later than 20 working days after the date we received your request. Unfortunately, it will not be possible to meet that time limit. We are therefore writing to notify you, pursuant to section 15A of the Act, of an extension of the time to make our decision in respect of your request, by a further 5 working days – to 26 July 2022. We will endeavour to provide the information sooner if possible.

This extension is needed to allow for consultations necessary to make a decision on your request. We apologise for the delay and thank you for your patience. We are waiting to hear back from relevant staff in Medicine and Dentistry. As you may appreciate our staff are currently very busy with tasks and also there has been disruptions to work with staff being away on sick leave.

If you are not satisfied with our extension of time, you have the right to make a complaint to the Ombudsman under section 28(3) of the Act. However, we would welcome the opportunity to discuss any concerns with you first.

We also note that we have a further follow up question from you that we are also processing - and we expect that we will be able to respond to you on that request by the due date (11 August).

Ngâ mihi
Mayhaka

Mayhaka Mendis

Vice-Chancellor's Office
University of Otago | Te Whare Wânanga o Otâgo
Tel/Waea +64 3 479 8899

Clocktower, Dunedin | Ôtepoti
PO Box 56, Dunedin 9054
New Zealand | Aotearoa

Email/Îmera [University of Otago request email]

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Kia ora Jenny

I refer to your follow up question sent on 18 June 2022 in relation to your Official Information Act request that we responded to on 5 May 2022.

I note that on 18 July 2022, we extended the time limit by which we must make a decision on your request of 18 June 2022, to 26 July 2022.

Please see our response to your follow up question below.

The key consideration in setting and applying minimum academic thresholds, in the MB ChB and BDS programmes, is to ensure that all those admitted are capable of succeeding. The basic thresholds for domestic HSFY applicants contained in the regulations for each programme have been set at 70 for many years (in slightly different formulations across the two programmes) and, because of the large number of general applicants exceeding these scores, occasion has not arisen to review these thresholds; high demand for general places has meant that those applicants who are ultimately selected have scores well above the threshold required in any case.

As you identified in the previous OIA response, some international students were admitted slightly below the general threshold of 70 for the years reported, with all admitted students averaging above 65. This reflects the discretion that the Medical and Dental Admissions Committees have to admit international students, and historic student performance data that confirms that students can be capable of succeeding with entry marks below the general domestic threshold. I regret if the earlier reference to the "same" academic threshold was confusing when what was intended was the threshold of capability of success.

To be eligible for admission to Medicine or Dentistry as an international student, applicants must have completed all necessary prerequisites at a minimum standard determined on a yearly basis by the Medical or Dental Admissions Committees. It is important to note that differences in admission scores (for those admitted) do not indicate differences in students' abilities to successfully complete these programmes, nor to be excellent doctors or dentists - rather, the point of applying an academic threshold is to ensure that everyone admitted to the class has the requisite academic ability to succeed. It is also important to note that international students are admitted to dedicated places that would not be available but for their fees, and hence no domestic student is displaced by the admission of an international student.

We trust you will find this information helpful.

Ngâ mihi
Kelsey

Kelsey Kennard
Official Information and Compliance Coordinator

Office of the Registrar | Te Tari o Te Pouroki me te Kaituhi ki te Kaunihera
University of Otago | Te Whare Wânanga o Otâgo
New Zealand | Aotearoa
Email | Îmera [University of Otago request email]

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Kia ora Jenny

 

Further to my email of 26 July 2022 replying to your questions regarding
entry threshold requirements for international students to the MB ChB and
BDS programmes, I note the further questions in your email of 14 July,
namely:

 

o Was there anyone who scored less than 65% in one or more HSFY papers
but still got accepted into BDS or MB ChB?
o If so, could I please get the lowest grade of a HSFY paper of who got
into BDS and MB ChB in the past five years?

 

In response, I advise that there was at least one international student
who scored less than 65% in one or more HSFY papers but still got accepted
into the BDS or MB ChB programme. In the last five years, the lowest HSFY
grade of a successful applicant was 51%. As explained in our earlier
response, the Medical and Dental Admissions Committees have a discretion
to admit international students in light of their ability to succeed in
the relevant programme, and this consideration will have been applied in
admitting this student. It is again important to note that international
students are admitted to dedicated places that would not be available but
for their fees, and hence no domestic student is displaced by the
admission of an international student.

 

I trust you will find this information helpful.

 

Ngā mihi

Kelsey

 

 

Kelsey Kennard

Official Information and Compliance Coordinator

 

Office of the Registrar | Te Tari o Te Pouroki me te Kaituhi ki te
Kaunihera

University of Otago | Te Whare Wānanga o Otāgo

New Zealand | Aotearoa

Email | Īmera [1][University of Otago request email]

 

 

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